The Czech Republic countryside
The fields of yellow with streaks of green surrounding the watch towers are sunflowers, blurred as the photographer’s bus sped past at seventy miles per hour. Sunflowers, raised to produce cooking oil, are a major crop covering almost three million areas of farmland in the Czech Republic.
And what about the watch towers? One can only speculate. Perhaps they are simply a relic from the days of farm collectives under Communism.

Little House
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.
Substantial changes took place in Czech agriculture after the fall of Communism in 1989. The number of independent farmers and entrepreneurs significantly increased.
At the end of 2004, Czech agriculture had 678 farmer cooperatives, 2,319 trade companies, 32,231 individual farmers and 180 other entities in operation.

Farmland
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.
Substantial changes took place in Czech agriculture after the fall of Communism in 1989. The number of independent farmers and entrepreneurs significantly increased.
At the end of 2004, Czech agriculture had 678 farmer cooperatives, 2,319 trade companies, 32,231 individual farmers and 180 other entities in operation.

Mattoni
Mattoni is bottled mineral water from Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
Heinrich Mattoni, in 1864, took over the mineral water production at the small spa town of Kyselka near Karlovy Vary in West Bohemia. He built a modern bottling plant and created a distribution infrastructure to supply spa guests in Kyselka and throughout Bohemia. By the 1880's, Mattoni water was the best known in Europe. When Mattoni died in 1910, ten million bottles were being exported to other countries.
Today, the Mattoni brand is owned by Carlsbad Mineral Water (Czech: Karlovarské Minerální Vody).

Enchanted Field
The lush green fields of the Czech countryside blurred as the photographer’s bus sped past at seventy miles per hour, creating a flowing motion in a dreamlike vision.
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.

Village
The Czech Republic with Germany and Poland to the north, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east, has some of the most magnificent castles and quaint villages found anywhere in Europe. There are 5,612 villages, rural communities with less than 2,000 population, in the Czech Republic.
Summer is known as okurková sezona, cucumber season, and the time when city dwellers flee to their Chatas (cottages) in the country. In fact, today many young professionals are choosing to relocate from the city noise and grim to where the foxes say goodnight—tam, kde dávají lišky dobrou noc in Czech, which means the middle of nowhere, the boonies.
The ignominy attached to being a balík, villager or country bumpkin, is eroding as young professionals choose commuting from their village.

Green Hills
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.
Substantial changes took place in Czech agriculture after the fall of Communism in 1989. The number of independent farmers and entrepreneurs significantly increased.
At the end of 2004, Czech agriculture had 678 farmer cooperatives, 2,319 trade companies, 32,231 individual farmers and 180 other entities in operation.

Quite Village
The Czech Republic with Germany and Poland to the north, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east, has some of the most magnificent castles and quaint villages found anywhere in Europe. There are 5,612 villages, rural communities with less than 2,000 population, in the Czech Republic.
Summer is known as okurková sezona, cucumber season, and the time when city dwellers flee to their Chatas (cottages) in the country. In fact, today many young professionals are choosing to relocate from the city noise and grim to where the foxes say goodnight—tam, kde dávají lišky dobrou noc in Czech, which means the middle of nowhere, the boonies.
The ignominy attached to being a balík, villager or country bumpkin, is eroding as young professionals choose commuting from their village.

Golden Fields
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.
Substantial changes took place in Czech agriculture after the fall of Communism in 1989. The number of independent farmers and entrepreneurs significantly increased.
At the end of 2004, Czech agriculture had 678 farmer cooperatives, 2,319 trade companies, 32,231 individual farmers and 180 other entities in operation.

Farmland Village
The Czech Republic with Germany and Poland to the north, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east, has some of the most magnificent castles and quaint villages found anywhere in Europe. There are 5,612 villages, rural communities with less than 2,000 population, in the Czech Republic.
Summer is known as okurková sezona, cucumber season, and the time when city dwellers flee to their Chatas (cottages) in the country. In fact, today many young professionals are choosing to relocate from the city noise and grim to where the foxes say goodnight—tam, kde dávají lišky dobrou noc in Czech, which means the middle of nowhere, the boonies.
The ignominy attached to being a balík, villager or country bumpkin, is eroding as young professionals choose commuting from their village.

Silos

Can You Hear Me Now

The Church—Czech Republic
There are hundreds of churches in the Czech Republic, but only about one third of them are in tolerable condition. A mindset of non-belief is the legacy of fifty years rule by Nazis and Communists.
In 1949, the Communist confiscated church property and arrested thousands of priests.
Prior to Communist rule, churches had farms to cover the cost of maintaining its buildings. It was also customary for each church to have a patron, either a nobleman or the city council, who saw it as a duty to keep the church in good condition.

Freight Train

High Wire Low Wire

Lone Tree On The Prairie
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.
Substantial changes took place in Czech agriculture after the fall of Communism in 1989. The number of independent farmers and entrepreneurs significantly increased.
At the end of 2004, Czech agriculture had 678 farmer cooperatives, 2,319 trade companies, 32,231 individual farmers and 180 other entities in operation.

Open Field
The green and yellow grain in the foreground blurred as the photographer’s bus sped pass at seventy miles per hour, creating a surreal view of the Czech countryside.
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.

The Tree In The Field
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.
Substantial changes took place in Czech agriculture after the fall of Communism in 1989. The number of independent farmers and entrepreneurs significantly increased.
At the end of 2004, Czech agriculture had 678 farmer cooperatives, 2,319 trade companies, 32,231 individual farmers and 180 other entities in operation.

Construction

Two Barns
The region between Prague and Budapest is comprised of rolling hills highlighting Czech village life and farming. Over half of the land in the Czech Republic, 54.1% of the total area of the country, is devoted to agriculture.
Substantial changes took place in Czech agriculture after the fall of Communism in 1989. The number of independent farmers and entrepreneurs significantly increased.
At the end of 2004, Czech agriculture had 678 farmer cooperatives, 2,319 trade companies, 32,231 individual farmers and 180 other entities in operation.